MapIO: A Gestural and Conversational Interface for Tactile Maps

For individuals who are blind or have low vision, tactile maps provide essential spatial information but are limited in the amount of data they can convey. Digitally augmented tactile maps enhance these capabilities with audio feedback, thereby combining the tactile feedback provided by the map with...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Matteo Manzoni, Sergio Mascetti, Dragan Ahmetovic, Ryan Crabb, James M. Coughlan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10981719/
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850271499830689792
author Matteo Manzoni
Sergio Mascetti
Dragan Ahmetovic
Ryan Crabb
James M. Coughlan
author_facet Matteo Manzoni
Sergio Mascetti
Dragan Ahmetovic
Ryan Crabb
James M. Coughlan
author_sort Matteo Manzoni
collection DOAJ
description For individuals who are blind or have low vision, tactile maps provide essential spatial information but are limited in the amount of data they can convey. Digitally augmented tactile maps enhance these capabilities with audio feedback, thereby combining the tactile feedback provided by the map with an audio description of the touched elements. In this context, we explore an embodied interaction paradigm to augment tactile maps with conversational interaction based on Large Language Models, thus enabling users to obtain answers to arbitrary questions regarding the map. We analyze the types of questions the users are interested in asking, engineer the Large Language Model’s prompt to provide reliable answers, and study the resulting system with a set of 10 participants, evaluating how the users interact with the system, its usability, and user experience.
format Article
id doaj-art-7a1cac0a4c454a1784ac8bb2ac238c8d
institution OA Journals
issn 2169-3536
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher IEEE
record_format Article
series IEEE Access
spelling doaj-art-7a1cac0a4c454a1784ac8bb2ac238c8d2025-08-20T01:52:12ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-0113840388405610.1109/ACCESS.2025.356628610981719MapIO: A Gestural and Conversational Interface for Tactile MapsMatteo Manzoni0https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1946-5919Sergio Mascetti1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8416-4023Dragan Ahmetovic2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5745-1230Ryan Crabb3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0667-1898James M. Coughlan4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2775-4083Department of Computer Science, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, ItalyDepartment of Computer Science, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, ItalyDepartment of Computer Science, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, ItalyThe Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USAThe Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USAFor individuals who are blind or have low vision, tactile maps provide essential spatial information but are limited in the amount of data they can convey. Digitally augmented tactile maps enhance these capabilities with audio feedback, thereby combining the tactile feedback provided by the map with an audio description of the touched elements. In this context, we explore an embodied interaction paradigm to augment tactile maps with conversational interaction based on Large Language Models, thus enabling users to obtain answers to arbitrary questions regarding the map. We analyze the types of questions the users are interested in asking, engineer the Large Language Model’s prompt to provide reliable answers, and study the resulting system with a set of 10 participants, evaluating how the users interact with the system, its usability, and user experience.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10981719/Assistive technologiesblind and low vision peopleconversational interfacedigitally augmented tactile mapstactile maps
spellingShingle Matteo Manzoni
Sergio Mascetti
Dragan Ahmetovic
Ryan Crabb
James M. Coughlan
MapIO: A Gestural and Conversational Interface for Tactile Maps
IEEE Access
Assistive technologies
blind and low vision people
conversational interface
digitally augmented tactile maps
tactile maps
title MapIO: A Gestural and Conversational Interface for Tactile Maps
title_full MapIO: A Gestural and Conversational Interface for Tactile Maps
title_fullStr MapIO: A Gestural and Conversational Interface for Tactile Maps
title_full_unstemmed MapIO: A Gestural and Conversational Interface for Tactile Maps
title_short MapIO: A Gestural and Conversational Interface for Tactile Maps
title_sort mapio a gestural and conversational interface for tactile maps
topic Assistive technologies
blind and low vision people
conversational interface
digitally augmented tactile maps
tactile maps
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10981719/
work_keys_str_mv AT matteomanzoni mapioagesturalandconversationalinterfacefortactilemaps
AT sergiomascetti mapioagesturalandconversationalinterfacefortactilemaps
AT draganahmetovic mapioagesturalandconversationalinterfacefortactilemaps
AT ryancrabb mapioagesturalandconversationalinterfacefortactilemaps
AT jamesmcoughlan mapioagesturalandconversationalinterfacefortactilemaps